Guide to Using Sony A-Mount Lenses on Sony a7RII

Sony a7RII’s back-illuminated sensor is the world’s first fullframe sensor with an on-sensor Phase Detection AF system capable of fast autofocus using SSM and SAM DSLR lenses. Sony A-mount Lenses include both motorized SSM and SAM lenses as well as non-motorized Screw Drive lenses.

I tested out every lens I could get many hands on and here’s a breakdown of which adapters worked best on each. All testing was done under indoor lighting either at B&H Photo, the Sony Store in NYC or at Photoshop World which in all cases was less-than-bright testing conditions.

SONY A-MOUNT SSM & SAM LENSES

SONY A-MOUNT SCREW-DRIVE LENSES

Sony and Minolta Screw-drive Lenses have no focus motor in the lens so for AF, they need an lens adapter with its own focus motor like the Sony LA-EA4 Lens Adapter to provide AF with screw drive lenses. But because the LA-EA4 adapter uses it’s focus system – not the cameras – A-mount lenses won’t benefit from the a7RII’s large focus area or increased focus speed. Screw-drive lenses can also be used with a Sony LA-EA3 Lens Adapter but it will only work in manual focus mode.

Focus Modes:

Focus Areas:

Misc:

AF System Selection using LA-EA3

This is actually the most important new setting on Sony a7RII cameras. It allows users to select between 399-point Phase Detection AF or 25-point Contrast AF when an A-Mount lens is used with a LA-EA3 adapter (but not a LA-EA4) or when using third-party AF-capable Smart Lens Adapters.

The Phase Detection AF setting allows you to finally shoot in continuous AF-C mode with choices of Wide, Center or Flexible Spot Focus Areas. I’ve tested both AF-C and AF-S with a wide range of Sony A-mount lenses using a Sony LA-EA3 Adapter and in all my tests I found best performance was achieved using the default setting of Phase Detection AF.

Please note that Face Detection works when Sony A-Mount lenses are used with a Sony LA-EA3 adapter, but Eye-AF and Center Lock-On AF are not compatible. While the performance of many third-party lenses like Sony A-Mount and Canon EF lenses on a7RII is greatly improved, you still get the best performance and most AF features using native FE lenses.

Here’s a look at how Sony A-Mount lenses perform on Sony a7RII using the camera’s on-sensor Phase Detection AF system with Sony smart adapters.

SONY A-MOUNT ZOOMS

RECOMMENDED ADAPTER:Sony LA-EA3 offers fast and accurate AF-C and AF-S with Wide, Center and Flexible Spot Focus Areas.Sony LA-EA4 can also be used but it uses it’s own focus system that does not take advantage of a7RII’s 399 Phase Detection and 25 Contrast AF points.

RECOMMENDED ADAPTER:Sony LA-EA3 offers fast and accurate AF-C and AF-S with Wide, Center and Flexible Spot Focus Areas.Sony LA-EA4 can also be used but it uses it’s own focus system that does not take advantage of a7RII’s 399 Phase Detection and 25 Contrast AF points.

RECOMMENDED ADAPTER:Sony LA-EA3 offers fast and accurate AF-C and AF-S with Wide, Center and Flexible Spot Focus Areas.Sony LA-EA4 can also be used but it uses it’s own focus system that does not take advantage of a7RII’s 399 Phase Detection and 25 Contrast AF points.

RECOMMENDED ADAPTER:Sony LA-EA3 offers fast and accurate AF-C and AF-S with Wide, Center and Flexible Spot Focus Areas.Sony LA-EA4 can also be used but it uses it’s own focus system that does not take advantage of a7RII’s 399 Phase Detection and 25 Contrast AF points.

RECOMMENDED ADAPTER:Sony LA-EA3 offers fast and accurate AF-C and AF-S with Wide, Center and Flexible Spot Focus Areas.Sony LA-EA4 can also be used but it uses it’s own focus system that does not take advantage of a7RII’s 399 Phase Detection and 25 Contrast AF points.

RECOMMENDED ADAPTER:Sony LA-EA3 offers fast and accurate AF-C and AF-S with Wide, Center and Flexible Spot Focus Areas.Sony LA-EA4 can also be used but it uses it’s own focus system that does not take advantage of a7RII’s 399 Phase Detection and 25 Contrast AF points.

RECOMMENDED ADAPTER:Sony LA-EA3 offers fast and accurate AF-C and AF-S with Wide, Center and Flexible Spot Focus Areas.Sony LA-EA4 can also be used but it uses it’s own focus system that does not take advantage of a7RII’s 399 Phase Detection and 25 Contrast AF points.

RECOMMENDED ADAPTER:Sony LA-EA3 offers fast and accurate AF-C and AF-S with Wide, Center and Flexible Spot Focus Areas.Sony LA-EA4 can also be used but it uses it’s own focus system that does not take advantage of a7RII’s 399 Phase Detection and 25 Contrast AF points.

RECOMMENDED ADAPTER:Sony LA-EA3 offers fast and accurate AF-C and AF-S with Wide, Center and Flexible Spot Focus Areas.Sony LA-EA4 can also be used but it uses it’s own focus system that does not take advantage of a7RII’s 399 Phase Detection and 25 Contrast AF points.

RECOMMENDED ADAPTER:Sony LA-EA3 offers fast and accurate AF-C and AF-S with Wide, Center and Flexible Spot Focus Areas.Sony LA-EA4 can also be used but it uses it’s own focus system that does not take advantage of a7RII’s 399 Phase Detection and 25 Contrast AF points.

RECOMMENDED ADAPTER:Sony LA-EA3 offers fast and accurate AF-C and AF-S with Wide, Center and Flexible Spot Focus Areas.Sony LA-EA4 can also be used but it uses it’s own focus system that does not take advantage of a7RII’s 399 Phase Detection and 25 Contrast AF points.

SONY A-MOUNT PRIMES

RECOMMENDED ADAPTER:Sony LA-EA4 This is a screw-drive focus lens so only LA-EA4 provides fast AF-C and AF-S using it’s own focus system that does not take advantage of a7RII’s 399 Phase Detection and 25 Contrast AF points.Sony LA-EA3 can be used for manual focus.

RECOMMENDED ADAPTER:Sony LA-EA4 This is a screw-drive focus lens so only LA-EA4 provides fast AF-C and AF-S using it’s own focus system that does not take advantage of a7RII’s 399 Phase Detection and 25 Contrast AF points.Sony LA-EA3 can be used for manual focus.

RECOMMENDED ADAPTER:Sony LA-EA3 offers fast and accurate AF-C and AF-S with Wide, Center and Flexible Spot Focus Areas.Sony LA-EA4 can also be used but it uses it’s own focus system that does not take advantage of a7RII’s 399 Phase Detection and 25 Contrast AF points.

RECOMMENDED ADAPTER:Sony LA-EA4 This is a screw-drive focus lens so only LA-EA4 provides fast AF-C and AF-S using it’s own focus system that does not take advantage of a7RII’s 399 Phase Detection and 25 Contrast AF points.Sony LA-EA3 can be used for manual focus.

RECOMMENDED ADAPTER:Sony LA-EA4 This is a screw-drive focus lens so only LA-EA4 provides fast AF-C and AF-S using it’s own focus system that does not take advantage of a7RII’s 399 Phase Detection and 25 Contrast AF points.Sony LA-EA3 can be used for manual focus.

RECOMMENDED ADAPTER:Sony LA-EA3 offers fast and accurate AF-C and AF-S with Wide, Center and Flexible Spot Focus Areas.Sony LA-EA4 can also be used but it uses it’s own focus system that does not take advantage of a7RII’s 399 Phase Detection and 25 Contrast AF points.

RECOMMENDED ADAPTER:Sony LA-EA4 This is a screw-drive focus lens so only LA-EA4 provides fast AF-C and AF-S using it’s own focus system that does not take advantage of a7RII’s 399 Phase Detection and 25 Contrast AF points.Sony LA-EA3 can be used for manual focus.

RECOMMENDED ADAPTER:Sony LA-EA4 This is a screw-drive focus lens so only LA-EA4 provides fast AF-C and AF-S using it’s own focus system that does not take advantage of a7RII’s 399 Phase Detection and 25 Contrast AF points.Sony LA-EA3 can be used for manual focus.

RECOMMENDED ADAPTER:Sony LA-EA3 offers fast and accurate AF-C and AF-S with Wide, Center and Flexible Spot Focus Areas.Sony LA-EA4 can also be used but it uses it’s own focus system that does not take advantage of a7RII’s 399 Phase Detection and 25 Contrast AF points.

RECOMMENDED ADAPTER:Sony LA-EA4 This is a screw-drive focus lens so only LA-EA4 provides fast AF-C and AF-S using it’s own focus system that does not take advantage of a7RII’s 399 Phase Detection and 25 Contrast AF points.Sony LA-EA3 can be used for manual focus.

RECOMMENDED ADAPTER:Sony LA-EA4 This is a screw-drive focus lens so only LA-EA4 provides fast AF-C and AF-S using it’s own focus system that does not take advantage of a7RII’s 399 Phase Detection and 25 Contrast AF points.Sony LA-EA3 can be used for manual focus.

RECOMMENDED ADAPTER:Sony LA-EA3 offers fast and accurate AF-C and AF-S with Wide, Center and Flexible Spot Focus Areas.Sony LA-EA4 can also be used but it uses it’s own focus system that does not take advantage of a7RII’s 399 Phase Detection and 25 Contrast AF points.

RECOMMENDED ADAPTER:Sony LA-EA3 offers fast and accurate AF-C and AF-S with Wide, Center and Flexible Spot Focus Areas.Sony LA-EA4 can also be used but it uses it’s own focus system that does not take advantage of a7RII’s 399 Phase Detection and 25 Contrast AF points.

MINOLTA MAXXUM A-MOUNT LENSES

With the exception of the Minolta 70-200mm f/2 8 D APO G SSM and Minolta 300mm f/2 8 D APO G SSM, all other Minolta Maxxum A-mount lenses are screw drive and only Sony LA-EA4 provides AF-C and AF-S with screw drives lenses using it’s own focus system that does not take advantage of a7RII’s 399 Phase Detection and 25 Contrast AF points.Sony LA-EA3 can be used for manual focus.

SIGMA A-MOUNT LENSES

I’ll add results from tests of third party A-mount lenses whenever I can get my hands on them. Here are a few that I’ve tried so far.

RECOMMENDED ADAPTER:Sony LA-EA4 provides fast AF-C and AF-S using it’s own focus system that does not take advantage of a7RII’s 399 Phase Detection and 25 Contrast AF points.Sony LA-EA3 can be used for manual focus.

RECOMMENDED ADAPTER:Sony LA-EA3 offers fast and accurate AF-C and AF-S with Wide, Center and Flexible Spot Focus Areas.Sony LA-EA4 can also be used but it uses it’s own focus system that does not take advantage of a7RII’s 399 Phase Detection and 25 Contrast AF points.

RECOMMENDED ADAPTER:Sony LA-EA3 offers fast and accurate AF-C and AF-S with Wide, Center and Flexible Spot Focus Areas.Sony LA-EA4 can also be used but it uses it’s own focus system that does not take advantage of a7RII’s 399 Phase Detection and 25 Contrast AF points.

RECOMMENDED ADAPTER:Sony LA-EA3 offers fast and accurate AF-C and AF-S with Wide, Center and Flexible Spot Focus Areas.Sony LA-EA4 can also be used but it uses it’s own focus system that does not take advantage of a7RII’s 399 Phase Detection and 25 Contrast AF points.

RECOMMENDED ADAPTER:Sony LA-EA3 offers fast and accurate AF-C and AF-S with Wide, Center and Flexible Spot Focus Areas.Sony LA-EA4 can also be used but it uses it’s own focus system that does not take advantage of a7RII’s 399 Phase Detection and 25 Contrast AF points.

RECOMMENDED ADAPTER:Sony LA-EA3 offers fast and accurate AF-C and AF-S with Wide, Center and Flexible Spot Focus Areas.Sony LA-EA4 can also be used but it uses it’s own focus system that does not take advantage of a7RII’s 399 Phase Detection and 25 Contrast AF points.

TAMRON A-MOUNT LENSES

RECOMMENDED ADAPTER:Sony LA-EA3 offers fast and accurate AF-C and AF-S with Wide, Center and Flexible Spot Focus Areas.Sony LA-EA4 can also be used but it uses it’s own focus system that does not take advantage of a7RII’s 399 Phase Detection and 25 Contrast AF points. Note: This A-mount version performs much better than Tamron or Sigma’s Canon EF 150-600 which are virtually worthless for AF.

For more tips and tricks about getting the most out of your Sony a7 series camera, check out my new book ‘Sony a7-Series: From Snapshots to Great Shots’.
It’s your guide to all of the Sony a7-Series cameras including the new a7RII. While the camera manual explains what the camera can do, it doesn’t show how to use the camera to create great images! Starting with the Top Ten things users need to know about the cameras, author Brian Smith, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer and Sony Artisan of Imagery, carefully guides you through the operating features of Sony a7, a7R, a7S, a7II and a7RII and how to use them. Get practical advice from a pro on which settings to use when, great shooting tips, and assignments at end of chapter to practice what you’ve just learned.

Comments

Great article sir. You have already sold my on getting an a7R II vs a7 II. However, my next question I have is should I keep my canon telephotos (I have the L version of both the 27/70mm f2.8, and 70-200mm f2.8) and use a Metabones IV? Or should I sell them and get the A-mount versions and an LA-EA3?
I know both are vastly improved over previous A7 cameras, but is one pairing faster than the other?
I know these telephoto lengths are available in EF mount, but I don’t think I can go from f2.8 to f4.
Thanks again!

Hi Brian, just picked up the a7rii and have been using the canon 70-200 2.8 II on it with w fotodiox adapter. What do you think the performance difference in speed ( I shoot a lot of hockey) and quality to the 70-200mm f/2.8 SP Di USD for Sony on LA-E3 (already have the adapter)? Trying to just have one A mount adapter and rest to be native if I can.

HI Brian, sorry for late response but i have the latest canon 70-200mm 2.8 (MKii) does that work ok with the A7ii or A7Rii? I know the A7Rii will be slightly better but just got confused on which canon lens works with the LA-EA3.

Ive been so tired of seeing all the Canon lens coverage with the a7rII – What about those of use smart enough to leave Canon years ago?! Haha. This is exactly what Ive been looking for – great coverage Brian!

Great article. But if you measured it, I missed it: While the LA-EA3 appears preferable in most situations where it is compatible with the lens’ autofocus system, because of the increase in the number and type of autofocus points, is that preference because of the SPEED of the autofocus, or the ACCURACY, or the FLEXIBILITY?

From the few user reports that break down these criteria, it sounds like:

1. The LA-EA3 wins for FLEXIBILITY.
2. The LA-EA3 and LA-EA4 are equivalent for ACCURACY when shooting a subject covered by their autofocus points (though of course the 3 wins when the subject is outside the coverage of the 4 but within the coverage of the 3.)
3. The LA-EA4 wins for SPEED.

Brian,
Thanks for this post. I have an A7II and i’m using the Tamron 150-600mm with the LA-EA4 adaptor with fairly successful results. Would there be any benefit of using the LA-EA3 instead or would it not be compatible with the Tamron or force me to use only Manual Focus. All these adaptors still confuse me a bit 😉

hello Brian,
thank you for this , i have the sony SAL500mm and also the LA-EA3 and LA-EA4
i,m not sure which adapter is the more presice for this lens , when you photograph a bird on a branch
if you use the LA-EA4 with this lens you need micro-adjustment.
do you think the LA-EA3 is more accurate ??????

Thank you for the detailed guide. I was using LA-EA4 coupled with 135 1.8 on my A7II. Unfortunately the AF was so unconsistent with this adapter. I did lots of micro focus adjustments. This worked well for the very same distance, ie. If I did the micro adjustment with a chart placed 10 meters away, I was having a perfect focus for objects ~8-12 meters away. But if I was to shoot something 20 meters away, boom!, front focusing all the time. Therefore I sold LAEA4 and switched to LA-EA3 and now I’m using manual focus only. LA-EA4 was a sad story for me.

Hi Brian!
thanks – this is super-helpful in choosing what lens to pair my A7Rii with.
On to 70-400mm lenses, You say the old lens AF-speed is acceptable and the new on is fast. I would really appreciate it if You could elaborate a little bit more. If You remember those two tests, is the new one “birds-in flight”-fast and the old one “hunts but eventually gets there in a second or two fast” – or how would You describe the difference? (trying to find out if the old one is fast enough for a possible safari-trip; it’s quite a bit cheaper (used) than a new G2 lens

Thanks for all of your info on this, and replying to everyone. I am a little lost as to what the two of you are referring to here? Verson I and II of what? A mount lenses? I had asked about Canon AF speed with a Metabones IV vs Sony A-mount with the LA-EA3, but this adds a new wrinkle. If I did get the a7R II over the a7 II, I probably wouldn’t be able to fork over the money to get the version II 24-70mm and 70-200mm 2.8’s. I would be getting Version I. Also, may canon versions are also version I. So does that mean I’m gonna get crappy AF with both the a7 II and a7R II with the aforementioned adapters? Just maybe slightly less crappy with and a7R II? Uhg! I really don’t want to have to slow down to f4 just to get the same AF speed I’m getting with my Canon setup.

BTW, I mostly use single-point auto-focus (usually focused on one of the subject’s eyes). I’m not sure if that makes a difference in your recommendation? Here is my portrait/headshot portfolio for refference:http://romeobravophoto.zenfolio.com/p777368638

That’s what I was thinking too! But I’m curious about light loss of the two. There’s only a 9mm difference in thickness between the 3 and the 4. Why does the 3 have no light loss and the 4 carry 1/2 stop?

Except now I can’t call it a mirror-less system! (boohoo) (Until I decide to invest in native E-mount lenses, that I THOUGHT I was smartly avoiding (on Sony’s advice!) when I spent a bunch of extra cash on 4 full frame A-mounts for my a77M2.)

Thanks so much for this review. As a thus far A-mount only shooter it is very helpful. I found your comments regarding the telephoto A-mount lenses most interesting, particularly the two versions of the 70-400 and the 500/4. It is a bit disappointing to hear that the AF speed with the 500 is only “acceptable,” but it is not all that surprising. A Canon shooting friend recently got the A7R II and was able to test one previously with his Canon 200-400/4 (with the built-in 1.4x converter). His finding were that the lens would not AF on the A7R II in anything but good light. It seems that the camera’s AF system may have some issues in focusing super-telephoto lenses, and also that the maximum aperture of the lens will impact the AF speed (or at least can). There are many reports that the camera has issues focusing in low light, but there also is a video from dpreview showing that with the E-mount 35/1.4 it does about as well in low light as the Nikon D750 and latest Canon body. I don’t know to what extent you do much low light shooting, other than perhaps in the studio, but for us event shooters it would be interesting to know how well lenses like the 24-70/2.8 and 70-200/2.8 do in low light levels. From your above review it appears they do quite well, at least in “normal” light levels.

As an A-mount shooter, and with all the questions about whether Sony will do an A99 II or similar level camera, the A7R II may be the only way to “upgrade” from the A99, which then presents the quandary of which A-mount lenses to use with the camera, and which E-mount lenses to perhaps add. Assuming Sony does not do an A99 successor, and the A-mount cameras have come to the end of the road (I personally hope not), then moving to a 7 series camera plus adapters will be the only recourse for dedicated A-mount shooters (other than switching systems). Thus, overall performance with A-mount lenses and adapters is a serious issue and concern for many of us, and your review is at least a first step in helping us figure out what may make the most sense. Were I to go with the A7R II as my A99 “upgrade,” I could see selling my screw mount lenses (including the 85/1.4 and 135/1.8), and moving to something like the Batis 85mm (though loss of the 135/1.8 would be hard to deal with given how great that lens is). Also, the “acceptable” AF with the 500/4 (which I have) is another concern for my wildlife shooting. I guess time will tell what Sony has in store for the A-mount system going forward.

The only other question I would pose is whether you have noticed any degradation of optical performance with the LA-E3 adapter (due to possible alignment discrepancies).

Thanks again for your pretty thorough review of your impressions of the A-mount lenses on the A7R II.

Hello Mark, I actually rated Sony 70-400mm f/4-5.6 G II Lens as excellent AF. It was the silver version 1 of that lens that I listed as “acceptable AF” – which I also find to be the case when using on A-mount cameras.

I easily could have called the 500 F4 G “good but less than excellent” it simply has to move larger lens elements than the 300 F2.8 G II which was extremely fast. All testing was done under indoor lighting either at B&H Photo, the Sony Store in NYC or at Photoshop World which in all cases was less than bright testing conditions.

There is absolutely no image degradation using LA-EA3. It offers better image quality than using LA-EA4 (or a99, a77 or a77II) because there is no SLT mirror.

Thanks much Brian. I agree that the 70-400 II has improved AF over the v.I lens (which I have), and I did notice that you rated the v.II lens as having excellent AF. A significant reason why I’ve contemplated upgrading my lens but have not yet pulled the trigger. (I also have considered upgrading my Minolta version of the 70-200/2.8 SSM G lens, but the ridiculous price of the v.II Sony lens is a deal-killer at this point, particularly given that the optics are basically the same, save for the lens coatings. From your review I gather that the AF performance of the original 70-200/2.8 is fine.)

Based on your comments, I suspect the 500/4 AF performance on the A7R II would improve in outdoor, better light situations, hopefully even the magic light hours when the “best” wildlife opportunities usually occur (with certain exceptions). Unfortunately, low light situations seem to still be a weakness for the mirrorless AF systems, even if it is (much) improved on the A7R II, and that slower maximum aperture lenses exacerbate the issue.

I expect to spend quite a bit of time playing with the A7R II at Photo Plus this year (and hope to see you there), and will then make some decisions.

Context to define my standards, and my guesses so far.
I have an A7R and an A7RII since August 6 (June order at B&H)
with the Sony FE 24-70 and
Fotodiox adapter + 5 Hasselblad V lenses: 40, 50, 80, 120f5.6, and 250.

I rarely use the 24-70 due to disappointing IQ.
I “inherited” the Hasselblad lens and related equipment from myself,
due to working my way through college as a photographer.

For many years I printed Ektacolor 16″x20″ at home (and developed own film).
I now print 16×20 color on my Canon IPF5100 (using photoshop CS6).

I bought an Imacon 848 and scanned my non-commerical negatives and some transparencies, and am slowly re-printing the faded Ektacolor, and many others.

I would love the Batis lenses (but only 2 of 6 or more that are needed are available)
with the LED hyperfocal distance display (would love to have that everywhere),
but naturally would prefer a zoom if the choice does not sacrifice too much IQ.

I do expect to buy the 90 2.8 FE macro to replace the function of my Hasselblad 120 macro,
and am optimistic it will satisfy me on IQ.

I want a super telephoto, and plan to test the Sigma 150-600S or C to see if I can accept the IQ. The Sigma 300-800 5.6 has tremendous appeal. The price, even used, is a hard nut to swallow, but every reviewer claims it competes with prime lenses in IQ.

1) Thank you very much.
I’m glad to know you find the DxO tests credible, and consistent with your personal experience (reflecting previous postings) with some of the pairs on my list.

2) Does the comment
“If AF is important, stay clear of the Sigma 150-600 C or S in Canon EF-mount it won’t autofocus past 250mm”
hold for the A7RII? I was aware of the limitations with A7R (which I plan to sell).

3) Information for your adapter listing concerning the Hasselblad Lenses, and perhaps other heavy lenses. The tripod foot on the Fotodiox loosened soon (few weeks) after I purchased the adapter, which was scary. The design (two tiny screws + butt joint) seems likely to make that a chronic problem. Hence I purchased a Vello tripod collar AZ0813 (best guess by telephone with B&H; one may find a better choice by tryouts in a camera store). Carefully adding 2 wraps of 3/4″ Dymo label tape to the Fotodiox allows the tripod clamp to snugly grab the adapter. Works great and provides camera rotation on a tripod. Over months of use, the screws holding adapter together loosened. Diagnosed by disappointingly soft images, then physical wobble. Just added Loctite Threadlocker and a bead of metal-epoxy on outside. The other adapter seems to have a similar design (6 screws holding 2 thinwall tubes together).
I am grateful to have the adapter as a way to anchor my evaluations of the A7R and A7RII to my previous work.

4) My A7RII wish list that may be firmware upgrades:
a) lossless raw
b) custom menus allowing eliminating or pushing down all movie and custom processing modes
c) Depth of field preview button (separate from live view), push-push or push and hold “spring loaded” like the old days

5) My future camera wishes:
a) More high IQ lenses
b) 16 bits, based on my experience with film, and now scanned negatives and positives and the related mathematics and reality of Dmax.
c) more resolution (I do landscape and art; no more journalism, weddings, or commercial work)
d) LED display of focus and DOF like on Batis for all lenses
e) change battery compartment fiddly small buttons (gloves, cold weather…)

1) DxO is accurate in terms of sharpness though the one criteria they fail to measure is the “look” of the lens which is why most Zeiss glass actually deserves a higher rating – but when measuring Zeiss to Zeiss their findings are accurate.

2) Sony a7RII adds AF-C and faster AF to compatible third-party glass but the Canon mount version of that lens doesn’t AF past 20-250mm no matter which Sony body you use. Same is true of the Tamron 150-600 EF mount.

Hi,
Based on your review, all SSM lenses should be used with the lae3 adapter. Would those lenses require any micro focus adjustment when using this adapter? I suppose not since final focussing is done on the sensor. Can you confirm this?
Regards

I read that section, but I am not 100% clear that I fully understood it! My take out is that Minolta AF lenses will work using the 399 point phase detection, with the LA-EA3 adapter, but only in manual focus mode. I would very much appreciate if you could confirm whether I am right or wrong.

Aside from the Minolta 70-200 2.8 SSM and 300 2.8 SSM all other Minolta lenses are drew drive so if you want AF you need the LA-EA4 or you can use the LA-EA3 with manual focus. As the name implies, there is no AF in manual focus.

I especially appreciate that you outline the fact that Eye AF, and by extension continuous Eye AF, do NOT work with adapted A-Mount lenses, SSM, SAM, or otherwise. Yours is the first article on the web that I’ve found that mentions that! And I’m not going to lie, it’s a disappointment, cause Eye AF is the main reason that I’m looking at moving to mirrorless over my Sony DSLRs.

Also… when you say “There is absolutely no image degradation using LA-EA3. It offers better image quality than using LA-EA4 (or a99, a77 or a77II) because there is no SLT mirror.”

… are you refrain only to the light loss that the pellicle mirror introduces? Or are there ANY other types of image degradation that you have noticed with the a99, a77, or a77II? I’ve always wondered if there’s the possibility of any ghosting, or flare, or softness, or really any other kind of annomoly that I haven’t listed being introduced by the SLT camera design. And it’s one of the reasons why I still shoot all my work with an a900.

The high ISO performance of the A7rII would be really nice to have, but only 10% of my images need to be shot at 1600 ISO, and 1% at 3200 ISO, and with a bit of noise reduction in Lightroom (and accurate exposure ensuring that I don’t have to brighten the exposure AT ALL in Lightroom) I’m satisfied with the a900 and so are my clients. Clients don’t pixel peep, photographers do!

That said, do you think the release of an LA-EA5 or LA-EA6 could offer the AF features for A-Mount glass that the native FE lenses enjoy? Or do you think that an A9 (or an a99II) could offer both screw drive lens support and on-sensor phase detection AF? With Eye AF working maybe just for the A-Mount SSM and SAM lenses… I doubt the screw drive lenses could move their glass in small enough and precise enough increments for Continuous Eye AF to work, though I have high hopes that at the very least Continuous Eye AF will be possible with my rather “newly released” Sony/Zeiss Planar 50mm F1.4 SSM on a future A-Mount camera or A-Mount adapter on an A7 series or A9 series camera. That lens is what I shoot 80% of my work with. And I don’t find the almost clinical look of the Sony/Zeiss 55mm F1.8 FE lens to my liking. Plus I like the extra light transmission of the A-Mount Planar, and the slightly shallower depth of field too much to ever let that lens go!

Sony could probably hook me if they released an E-Mount 50mm F1.2, or F1.0 Autofocus FE lens (or if ZEISS released a Batis with a similar focal length and F-stop). I’d be all in. Cause at 85mm, the subject to background separation of the BATIS looks to be good enough for me to let my 85mm Planar go. And at 35mm, the Sony/Zeiss 35mm Distagon F1.4 FE lens looks to be much better than my Minolta 35mm F2 RS and also MUCH better than the A-Mount 35mm F1.4 lenses by Minolta and rebranded by Sony.

A lot of thoughts here. And a lot of questions… But I just dropped my 85mm Planar at Saturday’s shoot, and it’ll be the second time I’ve had to send it to Sony for repairs (due to dropping it) so I expect it’ll be anywhere from $600-2000 dollars to fix it, so I always weigh my options of selling all the incompatible stuff and moving away from the a900 A-Mount cameras everytime I have to make any gear replacement purchase.

Here’s a link to view my work in case you’re curious. http://clients.byfieldpitman.com
As you’ll undoubtedly notice I’m a 35mm, 50mm, 85mm prime lens shooter. And the A-Moutn options that I use are, well, stunning, for what I’m looking to do with them!

“Eye AF” is a new feature that debuted on Sony a7 series cameras. It is a refinement of Face detection that tracks focus on the eye of the subject. I don’t believe a900 has that. Maybe you are thinking of something different.

Hi Brian, thank you for doing all the heavy lifting on these compatibility tests. It’s very much appreciated. I know you’ve mentioned some Sigma A-mount glass, but I’d really appreciate a view on the Sigma 150mm f2.8 EX DG OS Macro compatibility. Can we use the LA-EA3 to get continuous focus? I’d also appreciate a view on speed of focusing (which I know isn’t a key strength of Macro lenses – but with continuous mode a possibility, can it keep up with moving objects – i.e. use it as a prime lens for sports?).

Hi Brian – thanks for putting this together. Question on LA-EA3 for video on A7Rii… I’m still confused whether or not it supports AF with SSM glass? I have the 16-35/24-70 and longer zooms and wondering if I can use LA-EA3 to AF in video on A7Rii? Thanks!

Hi Brian – so I received the LA-EA3 today. No AF in video using Sony’s A-mount SSM zooms (I tried with 16-35 F2.8 and 24-70 F2.8) on A7Rii. Works ok for stills but nothing in video. I think I’m pretty familiar with the focus modes on the A7Rii by now and I’ve tried a variety of settings just to see if anything tricks it, but no luck.

Hm, tried that, just retested – still nothing. Once I hit the Movie button and then hit (and hold!) the shutter release the only thing that happens is AF motors start to hunt very slowly (as if it’s trying to use contrast detection) and finally locks on after several seconds of hunting. Then as soon as I release the shutter any AF function stops. No matter what combination of focus settings or movie mode I choose no AF. Works perfectly fine with native FE glass, of course, and I know AF works with these lenses on my A-mount bodies in video as well, so I’m quite sure I don’t have a defect or anything.

Hi Brian,
Question.
With a version 1 70-200 2,8 and the 24-70 2,8, using the LA3 adapter, will I LOSE anything, that i have using the FE glass..Lock on?, Eye Focus?/
That’s is what i have a hard time getting my head around.
My A7ll is great…but mounting th A mount glass, leaves me sad I only have the cross point to focus.
Having the constant eye focus, etc. would be terrific.
I await your input. Or perhaps share link where i can learn more. Perhaps I have overlook the answer to my questions, elsewhere.
Cheers,
Ken

Hello Brian, I heard from a video review of A7R2, that when using a third party adapter, the “reduced format APS-C” or in other words : “Crop factor mode from Full frame to APS-C” which is normally available to select in the menu of A7R2, will be lost (No longer available functionality with a third-party adapter)

Would this possibility with A7R2 body, be still available with Sony LA-EA3 adapter ?

thank you for your answer! 🙂 I’ve been looking at the Sony Sonnar T* FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA Lens for its slightly lower price. Would this also be a good first lens for the a7rii’s or would you highly recommend pushing the +300 to the FE 24-70mm F4 ZA OSS and get a far superior lens? Thank you for your honest follow up answer! 🙂

Brian, I’m interested in getting a wide angle zoom for my Sony a7rII and saw your comments that the Sony 24-70 2.8 ZA SSMII was your new favorite lens and that AF is fast and accurate when used with the LE-AE3 adapter, which I own. Do you think that’s a better camera/lens combo than the Sony/Ziess FE 24-70 4.0 in terms of image quality? Will Lock-on AF work with that combo? Thanks.

Hi Brian, I ‘ve just got my LA-EA3 after reading your articles on the adapters and I was excited to test my Sigma A-mount lenses on my A7R ii. However except the SIgma 35mm f1.4 ART, the 50mm f1.4 ART and 80-200 f2.8 DG both cannot focus.
With the 50mm ART it is never able to land with one focal point and it just keep hunting.
with the 80-200mm it does stop at a point but it’s out of focus.

Would you know the cause? Would it be the camera problem? Is there anything I could do to fix the problems? I am getting a bit desperate here. Thanks very much!

Both Art lenses focus fast and accurately on a7RII using the settings I described. Be certain AF System is set to Phase Detection AF. I did not test the 80-200 but it sounds like a Sigma lens made for Minolta A-mount which I doubt would not be compatible with AF on LA-EA3.

Got the Tamron 150-600 for my A7r MKII, it’s focus is pretty good but I have had problems getting tack sharp images, despite using tripod and or 1/1000 and OS when no tripod and various apertures. I have taken several 100 shots and most are soft when viewed at 50-100%. Any ideas? Recommended setting appreciated, it was mainly lions and tigers I tested it on.

To narrow this down a bit, can you tell if the softness appears to be from motion, mis-focus (front or back focus) or just softness in the lens? Are you seeing this at all focal lengths or just when racked out to 600mm?

I was just trying my new Sony 135mm STF on my LA-EA4. The lens has dual aperture, but the best that I can tell, the primary aperture only stays wide open. I can manipulate the aperture by hand when the lens is off the adapter. Any hints or tips as to how to proceed? I would like to have more control. I didn’t buy the adapter solely for this lens, I just didn’t want to make extra purchases. Do I need an adapter like the novoflex or Fotodiox that has an aperture ring?

The aperture ring on that lens allows you to set the Aperture to ‘A’ where the camera controls the aperture – but without STF. Or you can select STF with manual aperture settings of 4.5-6.7 T-stops using the aperture ring.

Hi Brian, great information and website.
I know this post is for the A7RIi, but having just seen J Lanier’s post on NFL the question of adapters on an A6000 came up. With that camera the autofocus is still only going to work with the la ea4 adaptor and not the 3? Or have I missed something. Is the use of PDAF with the laea3 only on the A7rIi or does it work on other A7 models too?

Hi. Great work. I used your tutorials and guides to choose the right camera for me. I choose the A7II camera because the A7RII body was too expansive for me. I had a A77 and a lot of great quality motorized lens. So reading this guide I bought both camera and La-EA3 adapter. When the camera arrived and I connected lens to the camera with the LA-EA3 adapter I noticed, with horror, that to get the focus the camera needs two seconds! So you should write that LA-EA3 write well only with A7RII cameras and not with A7II one. So now I have to sell away that adapter and buy the LA-EA4 adapter.

[…] [UPDATE: Sony LA-EA3 lens adapter is the best adapter when using Sony SSM or SAM lenses on Sony a7RII as it allows the camera to focus A-mount lenses quickly using either the a7RII’s Phase Detect or Contrast AF systems. Read more here: http://briansmith.com/sony-a-mount-lens-sony-a7rii-guide/%5D […]

Excellent read. Pretty simple question here, I have an A7R2, using it with native FE lenses (primarily 24-70mm F4) in very low light situations (mainly gigs). I have transitioned from Canon and miss the 2.8 tbh. If I were to purchase an A mount 24-70mm 2.8 with an LA-EA3 adapter, would the focussing be comparable to the native FE lens?

Great article 🙂 i do have one question though regarding the 24-70mm 2.8 version 1 and 2.. im thinking of getting either one coz in australia the ver. 2 is almost 1000 more.. so a few questions:

1. just wondering if its worth that much? in terms of using the a7rII i mean with the laea 3.. i know youre getting weather resistance but that’ll basically be useless because the laea 3 is not weather resistant..

2. and also i saw in dxo mark, using the ver. 2 in the a77 has a significant decrease in performance (especially in sharpess) vs the ver. 1. i have the a77 mark II and unfortunately they dont have tests for that camera.. just wondering if you saw any decrease in photo quality using your a mount crop cameras with the version 2..

Hey Brian, great article. I did have a question. I attempted to try a few of my SSM Zeiss lenses on an a7rii yesterday (with ae3 adapter) but was only getting 169 AF points rather than the 399. Any idea why?

Also tried on an a7sii and while the LA-EA3 adapter did work., the focusing was terribly slow. Any word on it being compatible as the 7rii?

I understand that, but WITH the a7RII I was only getting 169 focus points in phase detection mode. While in contrast it was open to 399. Any reason for the smaller allowable selection in phase detection. I would like to be able to speak intelligently about them when hosting workshops or speaking to its features.

Any word as to why Sony has crippled the autofocus speed of a lens when using laea3 to shoot video? Native lenses are able to autofocus quickly when shooting video so there really is no reason for non-native lenses to be crippled. Will Sony ever fix this via firmware or a new adapter? At least for alpha lenses, since there are so few full frame e-mount options right now.

Aside for the Minolta 70-200/2.8 SSM and 300/2.8 SSM, Minolta lenses require LA-EA4 for AF – BUT – I haven’t tested that particular lens. Because it’s an F8 lens I can’t promise you’ll get AF even with LA-EA4.

Thank you for the great article. Do you know if this applies to A7 ii? I am getting front focus sometimes with LA-EA3, A7m2 and Sigma 24-70 EX DG HSM (I could correct focusing with LA-EA4 but AF micro adjust will not work for ea3). The sigma 105/2.8 HSM Macro does not focus at all. Weirdly all 1.4 lenses I tried the 3 sigma lenses you listed the 50mm Zeiss work very well

I was wondering if the AF with A7m2 and A mount lenses after the update has some considerable drawback relative to a7r2 apart from the coverage and total number of AF points

Hello Brian!
2 weeks ago I bought: SONY ALFA 7RII with interchangeable adapter that will assist me to use previous lenses that I have for the previous camera SONY ALFA 77V. For some reason the 42MB function works apparently only when the camera is attached to the lenss without adapter. My question is whether SONY lens 24-240 is the kind that will allow me to run my 42MB function in the SONY ALFA 7RII or what will you advise?
Thank you
Yehskeal

Full-frame A-mount lenses will also allow you to shoot fullframe on a7RII – but APS-crop A-mount lenses will not. Since Sony a77 is an APS camera, is it possible the A-mount lens you’re trying to adapt is made for APS?

Hi Brien!
Firstly thanks for the wise answer.
Unfortunately, I asked about the lens Sony FE 24-240mm f/3.5-6.3 OSS and you refer to 24-70. So sorry if I’m confusing your brain, can you write me your opinion about this lens? Whether it is suitable for photography with the camera in pictures size 42MP that means’ to run the camera with this lens.
Thanks for the attention.

Hi I want to buy Sony A7rii but confused in lenses please recommend me one lens that is good for recording 4k reviews/unboxing and gadgets and good for protatit photography if one lens is not possible kindly suggest to

Hi. I have confusion about cropping using adaptors. I have scoured the articles to get confirmation but am still none the wiser.

I have the A7rII and both the LA-EA3 adaptor and a Metabones EF-E Mount. When using either my 24-70mm Canon 2.8L or the Zeiss 24-70mm ZA SSM II lens, I am getting cropping of the lens. What I can see through the viewfinder at 24mm no where near as wide as 24mm on my 5DII.

Am I totally missing something here?

Thanks for all the in-depth articles on here, it’s really helped with the Canon to Sony transition I’m slowly making.

Hi Brian,
I’m looking to upgrade from the Sony A57 to the Sony A7RII.
Currently I have the Tamron 70-200 2.8 (which I really love) and the Tamron 17-50 2.8 lens.
Should I keep either of these and invest in an adapter, or will they not do the A7RII justice? Any idea if Sony is coming out with a 70-200 2.8 fairly soony? I hate the idea of having to get the 70-200 f4. Also, my other concern is that while shooting events I cannot use a flash on the A7RII if I use an adapter with the Tamron 70-200 on it, which I really need to be able to use a flash. Any idea around this? Or would I just need to suck it up and get the 70-200 f4?
Thank you!

Hi Brian, I would buy the Zeiss Sony 135mm f1.8, but I’m not interested autofocus, there is a Fotodiox adapter $ 30 that says serves to move the diaphragm aperture and nothing else, you think this combination works well with my a7rii or would have some additional problem the lack of electronic communication ??
thank you!!

Great website and great resource. Question: since DXO tests A-Mount lenses with the 24MP A99 and not on the 42MP A7RII, do you think it’s viable to multiply the DXO sharpness rating by 1.75 (42/24=1.75) to get a proxy of how the A-Mount lens might perform on the A7RII with an LA-EA3 adapter?

I can’t find resources anywhere that assess how well adapted lenses will resolve on the A7RII new sensor.

I owned a Nikon D810 with good lenses.
Because i make more and more video’s, and the Nikon was not the best in that case.
Then i bought the 7Rmk2. Nice camera, and technical perfect.
Lenses, 16-35 + 24-70 + 70-200 and since yesterday the 70-400 + LA-EA3.

Works great. But when i make video ‘s AF-C does not work.
When you press the foto relaese button, he starts sharpening.
But when you lose that button, and start pannig f.i., the AF-C does not follow.
When you press the function button, the screen says, This lens will not work.

Do i something wrong? Arew my settings not correct. Or does ‘nt it work.
In fotosetting all works. But AF-C is not very quick.
Must you update the LA-EA3. I don ‘t think so. The 7R mk2 is updated.

Thanks for your answer and greetings from Giethoorn (Dutch Vienna) in Holland.

[…] then bumped up the need/want/gotta have now for a lens to take advantage of the new body. Here is an analysis of why the LAEA3 rather that the newer AEA4 from photographer Brain Smith. Much of it ha to do with […]

Jordi

May 26, 2017

Hi
Does the new Tamron 150-600 G2 A-mount work well with LAEA3 and Sony A6500?Any known issues?Need a long focal range for Kite-Surf and not shure what to buy….Is the Tamron 150-600 G1 enough for that matter?
Thx

The bad news is that it’s based on an old Minolta design – so it is not a SSM lens which menas that if you want AF you’ll need to use Sony LA-EA4 Lens Mount Adapter and I’m not sure that lens is worth the cost of adapting.

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Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Brian Smith creates iconic portraits of the famous and infamous for magazines, books and advertising. He has appeared on The X Factor, Fine Living Network and Israel Channel One and exhibited at the Library of Congress and the Aperture Gallery.